


The Witching Hour

by highflyerwings



Category: Star Trek RPF
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2019-05-13 12:47:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14749146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/highflyerwings/pseuds/highflyerwings
Summary: Zach and Chris go ghost hunting.





	The Witching Hour

**Author's Note:**

> This is WIP I've had saved for years, and I cannot seem to force myself to finish it. It will probably remain unfinished forever unless enough people comment and guilt me into doing so.

When the knock comes at 10:45 Friday night, Chris glances up over the top of his book and scowls at the door.

"Hey, man, I know you're in there!  Open up!"  Zach's voice floats through from the other side, and he pounds on the door again. 

Chris sets his book down on the coffee table and slowly shuffles to the door.  He cracks it open, and rests his head against the door frame.

"What do you want, Zachary," he sighs.

A sliver of warm light partially illuminates Zach's features.  He's beaming.  And before Chris knows it, he's being shoved aside as Zach pushes his way through. 

"Oh please, do come in," Chris deadpans as he shuts the door.  He turns around to see Zach depositing an array of items on his coffee table.

"Hey, you busy tonight?"  Zach asks breathlessly.

"No, not really, but--"

Zach whirls around, the smile on his face growing impossibly wider, "Good!  We're going ghost hunting."

"What?"

"Ghost hunting," Zach gestures to the items on the table, which Chris can now clearly see are two video cameras, what looks like a small digital recorder, two flashlights, and a pile of unopened batteries.

"Zach, what the hell," Chris groans.  "We are not."

"Yes, Christopher.  _We are._ "

"Ghost hunting?"

Zach grins and nods his head.

" _Ghost hunting..._ "  Chris glares.

"What," Zach shrugs.

"Zach, I reiterate..."  Chris closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose, "W _hat the hell_?"

Zach's face falls, and Chris almost feels bad.  "It's _fun_ .  Don't be so difficult.  People aren't going to think you're crazy just because you go _ghost hunting_."

Chris smirks.

Zach's eyes shift a little, "Yeah...okay, well, that's why we're going alone!  Just the two of us.  No one else will know about it."  He makes a small bow, "Your dignity will remain in tact, fair maiden."

Chris laughs, "Zach, come on.  Do people actually do this?  Like...for real?"

"For reals, babe," Zach winks.

"Have _you_?"

"All the time in college," Zach waves his hand dismissively.

"Zach, I don't know.  This just seems... _weird_.  Even for you."

"Oh for fuck's sake, Christopher!  It's Halloween!"  He throws his arms wide, "Just go with it!"

Chris holds up his hands in defeat and laughs, "Alright, alright.  Fine."

Zach's face brightens instantly, "Yeah?"

Chris sighs, "Yeah.  Sure.  Whatever."  Really, he was already home alone on a Friday night, what else did he have to do.

Zach's eyes crinkle ominously at the corners as he smiles, and Chris already regrets his decision.

 

//

 

**11:45 pm**

An hour later, Chris yawns as he flips through the radio stations in Zach's car. 

"Why are we going so late?"

"The witching hour," Zach says simply, his attention focused on the rear-view mirror as he switches lanes.  The streets are still wet from the rain that had fallen earlier that evening, and each passing streetlight creates a shiny and surreal world that glitters in the darkness.

"What?"  Chris yawns again.

"The witching hour," Zach repeats.  "It's the time between midnight and 3am whenever paranormal activity is supposed to be at its most active.  So they say..."

"Ah, 'When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out,'" Chris recites.  His head lolls on the headrest as he turns to smile at Zach.

Zach glances at Chris and smiles, "Something like that, yeah."

Another half hour passes with nothing more than the quiet drone of the radio to break the silence, barely audible over the hum of the highway beneath them.  Chris is drowsy, and relaxed, and to keep himself from falling asleep he alternates his attention from the view out his window, to Zach, who looks intense and focused, but full of energy.  Ask Chris what his favorite thing about Zach is and you'll always get the same answer: the silences are never awkward.  

Chris smiles to himself and, despite his best attempts, he closes his eyes. 

 

//

 

He didn't remember falling asleep, but he was suddenly roused by Zach's soft voice as it breaks through the silence.

"We're here."

Chris slowly blinks awake, and his heart beats a little bit faster as he gapes at the sight in front of him.

Looming before them is the silhouette of a towering four-story building.  An expanse of shadowy turrets stretched out against the cloudy sky.

"What is this place?" Chris murmurs.

"Saint Vincent's Hospital for the Criminally Insane."  Zach's voice is reverent and soft.

Chris turns and stares at Zach, "You're shitting me."

Zach pulls up in front of the building and turns off the ignition.  The headlights switch off, throwing them into total darkness.  They both lean over to look out Chris' window. 

"I shit you not, my friend."  Zach looks at Chris out of the corner of his eye and grins.

"Zaaaach," Chris groans.

Zach slaps Chris' thigh, "C'mon.  Let's go."  He opens the car door and steps out onto the gravel.

Chris takes a deep breath and one last look out his window before he gets out.  The gravel crunches softly under his feet as he makes his way to the back of the car where Zach is retrieving their equipment from the trunk.

"Here, take these."  Zach hands Chris a camera and a flashlight.

Chris takes the items and turns his attention back to the hospital.  "Where the hell did you find this place?" 

"Um.  A friend told me about it."

"One of your _ghost-hunting_ friends?"

Zach glares at Chris.

"Sorry," Chris says, though his smile would say otherwise.

Zach snorts softly, "Yeah, actually."  He finishes gathering his equipment and closes the trunk.  "Ready?" 

Chris winces, "Would you let me stay in the car if I said 'no?' 

"Nope." 

With that, Zach turns on his heel and heads towards the door of the hospital.

Chris trots after him, slipping slightly on the gravel when he reaches the door.  He immediately stops when he spots the lock and chain around the handles. 

"Do we even have permission to be here?"

"What?"  Zach asks, distracted as he peers through the window on the door.

Chris looks at Zach pointedly and jingles the chain looped around the handles. 

Zach steps back a fraction and looks down, "Oh.  Um...Yeah, not really."  He at least has the decency to look a little bit remorseful.  He examines the chain closer and notices the links have already been broken through and it's half hanging off the handle.  "Looks like we're not the first ones, though," he shrugs.  "Come on."

Chris grabs hold of Zach's arm lightly, "Zach, wait, I'm not sure--"

Zach huffs and turns to glare at Chris.

Chris rolls his eyes, "Fine.  Whatever.  Jeez.  A B'n'E was totally at the top of my to-do list anyway.  _Have at it_."  He makes a shooing gesture towards the door.

Zach slowly pushes the door open, "Technically it's not a B'n'E if the 'B's' already been done.  Really we're just... _entering_."  He turns and smiles at Chris.

Chris rolls his eyes and follows Zach through the door. 

Once inside, they both stop.  If Chris wasn't on the edge of scared he'd probably take the time to literally scoff at just how cliche it all was.  What lay before them was a large lobby, with what used to be an ornate skylight overhead--the glass long gone--and hallways shooting off in three different directions around them: one to their left, right, and directly in front.  The walls look like they had once been an off-shade of green or yellow, but have since faded and crumbled, and look like a light breeze might have disastrous effects.  The ceiling, looks water-logged, and just as dangerous, and the tile floor is barely visible beneath a thin layer of fallen plaster, and litter from years of squatters and countless vandals.

"Whoa," Chris breathes.  His whisper sounds loud in the still air around them.

"I know, right?!"  Zach turns to Chris with a smile so enthusiastic Chris relaxes marginally in the warmth of it.

Chris sighs and shakes his head, returning Zach's smile, "Alright.  Let's do this."

Zach bounces a little on the balls of his feet and shines his flashlight from left to right, down each of the three hallways.  

"Which direction?"

Chris's gaze follows the beam of light.  Each hallway looks equally dilapidated, but he finally decides that the center hall seems the less ominous of the three.  "This one." he points.  And they set off on their journey. 

 

//

 

**12:30 am**

The hallway looks endless.  The long stretch of opened doors and dark entryways make Chris feel uneasy.  He tries not to focus too far ahead and busies himself with the video camera in his hand.  He holds the camera up, presses record, and frowns at the screen. 

"So, am I supposed to be looking for orbs or something?"

Zach makes a quiet sound under his breath and keeps walking a few paces ahead, "Uh.  _No_."  He says sternly.  "Orbs are a load of shit."

"Really?"

"Yeah.  Naught but dust, Christopher.  Naught but dust."

"Okay then, so what exactly _am_ I supposed to be looking for."

"I don't know..." Zach flails his hands a little, "' _Paranormal anomalies_.'"

"Vague, Zachary," Chris says.

"Okay, uh..." Zach sighs and stops in a doorway to peer inside.  "You see a guy that shouldn't be there, let me know..."  His voice trails off as he slowly pans his camera from left to right across the room, studying the small LCD screen intently.

Chris stops and watches Zach curiously.  He slowly steps up behind him and looks over Zach's shoulder.  "You see something?"

"What?  Oh.  No, just looking."

Chris makes a small noise in acknowledgement and turns to continue walking further down the hallway on his own.  He stumbles a little on a piece of fallen plaster and he forgoes focusing on his camera and instead uses his own eyes to navigate.  Once his eyes adjust to the dark he takes the time to really look around.  It's not so bad, really, once you get over the whole Hollywood-horror aspect of it.  The sky outside has a solid layer of thick, gray clouds that makes everything seem a little brighter, a little more solid.  The light shines through the windows and is strong enough to illuminate his surroundings, and he finds he can see fair enough without his flashlight so he clicks it off and slides it into his pocket.  He idly thinks back to one summer when he was a kid, and his dad had taken him hiking in the woods...

 

***

 

_"Turn your flashlight off, Chris," Robert murmured to his son._

_"Why?"  Chris looked at his dad in confusion._

_Robert knelt down next to him, "Just let your eyes do the work."  He reached out and twisted Chris' flashlight off.  Everything went black._

_"Dad!"  Chris shouted and Robert chuckled softly next to him._

_"Shhh, it's okay, just wait."_

_Chris squinted and blinked rapidly in the darkness thinking there's no way anyone could see like this, how was he supposed to see, everything's completely dark!, and then..._

_"Whoa!"  Chris breathed out in amazement as he slowly started to make out the line of trees surrounding the trail they were on.  It was like he was seeing in black and white but--_

_"I can see!"_

_"Told you."  Robert laughed softly again and stood up.  "Come on, let's keep going."_

_Chris trotted after his dad, gazing around in awe with his newly acquired super power._

 

***

 

Chris smiles to himself at the memory, and stops, turning to look into a room he's just passed when he glances over his shoulder and sees nothing but a dark hallway behind him. 

Zach is gone. 


End file.
